Dance With Me
by Dotskip317
Summary: Piper is entered into a dance competition so she can help the boys guard the grand prize from the possible Cylclonian spy on the judging committee. There's just one problem. Piper can't dance. Fortunately Stork is ready and willing to help her out! SxP
1. Chapter 1

_Yes, I am a hopeless romantic for those of you who hadn't noticed. And for those of you who are REALLY out of it I have not yet updated "Crossroads and Crash Landings" in over two months (I think). I can't seem to get myself to finish it. Don't worry, I will eventually, but right now I need to write something that is more recent in terms of my mind and that happens to be this. It's not a OneShot, and I'll explain more about the Terra Atmosia Dance On in the next chapter or two. They'll probably get longer after this, so be patient. For the anti-pairings people among us; THIS IS A STORK AND PIPER FIC. You have been warned._

_Enjoy._

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I groaned slightly, standing in the middle of the floor of the Condor's bridge. "Why did I agree to this?" Of course I knew exactly why; the only free slot on the Terra Atmosia Dance On list had been for a girl, and being the only female member of the Storm Hawks, I had automatically landed in the position. I kept telling myself it was for the good of the Atmos that I was doing it, but that didn't change the fact that Aerrow had _known_ I would get stuck with it when he agreed to the mission or the fact that I seemed incapable of getting my feet to move the way I intended. I _could not _do these dances. And to make matters worse, if that were even possible, I was not going to meet my official dance partner until the night of the contest. "Okay," I said as the music looped back around to the start of the song, assuming the starting position of the first dance and holding my arms in the air as if there were someone there to lead me. "let's try this again." _Step, two, three, four, five, step, two, step, four, five, step two, step, four, step, step- _"Gah!" _-trip, stumble, fall, endure private humiliation…_

A low chuckle from the doorway let on to the fact that my humiliation was no longer so private. Stork stepped into the light and helped me up off the floor. "You were doing fine until the third measure. I think it's the double step that throws you off." I wrinkled her nose, walking over to the record player and taking the needle off. The pilot nervously cleared his throat, looking at the floor. "I could help you if you want."

I shot him a disbelieving glance from across the room. "You dance?" Stork nodded. "O rly?"

He rolled his eyes. "Well I can't possibly mess up the four steps you got right on your own."

"Again, o rly?"

"Just put the music on." He said, exasperatedly. I obliged, curious. Stork closed his eyes as the music came up, one hand supporting an invisible girl's and the other resting gently at her imaginary waist. I giggled, he looked so serious, and then quieted when he began to dance. Step, two, three, four, five, step, two, step, four, five, step two, step, four, step, step, two, tree, four, step, one, two, step, four, step… and onward, the music gradually picking up speed and Stork keeping in perfect time with it. At the end of the written instructions for this dance that I had gotten with the confirmation letter there was one dance move that I could pronounce but had no idea what it was supposed to look like until Stork did it, with flourish, at the end of his demonstration. It was less impressive than with a partner, I was sure, but the words translated out to _'sauté the cat' _in New World Atmosian if that helps at all.

When the music ended there were a few seconds of silence, which Stork used as an opportunity to bow to his invisible dance partner and show her out the main bridge door. "Stork!" I said, shocked, "Where did you learn to dance like that?" I ran over to where he was standing and held onto his arm, dizzy with excitement.

He shrugged, the attention making him nervous. "Flight school. They taught us a few traditional dances for rhythm and basic control so we could handle piloting larger ships. I thought it was fun so I learned more than was necessary to pass the course. All the dances on the Dance On list are ones I know."

"Would you teach me? Please?? I stink!"

"You don't stink, you just don't know what you're doing!"

I frowned at him. "Gee, thanks."

"Not like that! I just meant, well… here, let me show you." He pulled me back out into the middle of the bridge so we were standing on top of what would have been the table if it hadn't been retracted into the floor. One of his hands went to my side and the other gently took one of mine in its grasp. I took the hint and placed my hand on his shoulder. He nodded. "First of all, you need to start off without the music and then work your way up to that point. That way you can start as slow as you need to until you get the steps down. Now don't move, just count. On," He took a deep breath, as though preparing himself for something, "on this beat." The pointer finger on the hand resting at her hip began tapping out a steady beat on my side, not too slow, not too fast, and it sent shivers up my spine that I strove valiantly to ignore. "Go ahead." He prompted, misreading my hesitation.

"One, two, three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five…"

"Keep going," He said, still keeping the rhythm at my side, "just let your feet follow mine. I lead, you follow. Ready? Step." Two, three, four, five, "Step." Two, "Step." Four, five, "Step." Two, "Step." Four, "Step, step" Two, tree, four, "Step." One, two, "Step." Four, "Step." I stopped suddenly, realizing how far we'd gotten and jerking us both to a halt. Stork smiled. "See? You just didn't know what you were doing."

"That was amazing!" I said, beaming.

He chuckled softly. "Let's try this again, only this time don't stop when you notice you've got it down, okay?"

"Okay. One, two, three, four…" We got through the entire dance that way, with me only messing up once at the very end with the 'sauté the cat' move, which Stork seemed very embarrassed about and refused to teach me until I had the rest of the dance down.

There was something about dancing with him though… he was so strong and surefooted when he danced, holding me gently in his arms and counting out each movement so I wouldn't get lost. He made me feel _safe_, definitely not something I associated with the paranoid Merb I knew and… _loved? That wasn't it, it couldn't be. _I shook my head, watching his back as he walked off to his room after our second dance lesson. We had tried the first dance with the music and, although there were still a few rough edges that needed to be smoothed out according to my instructor-at-large, I was getting better.

But with every evening I spent with him, going over steps and rhythms and working through the difficult and intricate motions of the _other_ five dances I had to learn, the feeling that had only barely surfaced the first night grew stronger and harder to overlook, and the shivery sensation I got wherever he touched me never _quite _went away…

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ss  
\--/)


	2. Chapter 2

_Second chapter, still yours if you'll have me. My apologies to the chef._

_Enjoy!_

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"So Piper, how're the _dance_ lessons going?" Finn asked, leaning on the table next to me and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I rolled my eyes and ignored him, but he wouldn't drop it. "You and Stork sure are spending a lot of _time_ together now…" He trailed off, grinning.

I sighed and looked up at him from the book I was reading. "Finn, there is nothing going on there so you might as well drop it."

"Are ya sure? 'Cause I don't think Stork sees it that way! Isn't that right Stork?" he called out to the pilot, who flinched and hunched his shoulders even further over the _Condor_'s controls, muttering something about mind worms. "That's okay, you don't have to say anything, I think we all know what's _really_ going on out here in the middle of the night!"

Laughing, Finn ducked the book I had thrown at his head and sped out the door towards the hanger, nearly running Aerrow over in the process. "Whoa," he turned back to me and noticed the steadily growing irritation marring my face. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, just _fine_." I said, drenching my voice in sarcasm, "We haven't heard from the Cyclonians in weeks, everyone's getting cabin fever, and I haven't been able to get anything _productive_ done because of this stupid _dancing_ thing! No offence Stork."

"Eh, none taken."

"Isn't there any other way to get close to the competition?"

Aerrow shook his head, for some reason keeping his eyes trained on Stork's back. "You know there's not. It's tradition for the only guards to be guys, and we don't even know what the Cyclonians are planning yet. Until we get anything more on that we'll have to keep in line. We barely convinced them to let us provide security; they were so sure nothing was going to happen. I'm sorry Piper, but if we're all going to be there this is the only way to get you in."

I exhaled, angling the air upward with my lower lip and ruffling my bangs. "Fine. But you guys owe me."

"You mean more than we already do?" Stork shot over his shoulder, unaware of the odd look he was getting from the Sky Knight behind him. "That's one debt we'll be taking with us to our graves. Most likely in the not-to-distant future…" He trailed off, grinning slightly and mumbling about wind speed and trajectory. He glanced back at us and the smile disappeared. "What?"

"Nothing, Stork." Aerrow said quickly. "Piper, you don't have to do this if you don't want to, we can always let the Rex Guardians take the mission."

"Are you crazy?! No way! They were the ones who didn't want us to have it in the first place!"

"Okay! Just a suggestion."

"Well forget it! I am _going_ to do this."

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She called me out towards the end of our lesson that night. "Hey, Stork, I was wondering something. Why did you offer to teach me? You don't usually put yourself out there like this." I shrugged, hoping to get out of the question. It wasn't really a matter of me not knowing the answer so much as me really not wanting to explain the reasoning behind it.

The first time I noticed the sensation I got from touching her was when we were leaving the Black Gorge. _Murr… _I really didn't like it in there. Too dark and _deadly_ for my tastes. I was just focusing my thoughts on how to repair the holes in the Condor's armor from the Vulca bats when _she_ came from behind and hugged me right around the neck. It was like someone had set a horde of butterflies loose on my skin, and the tingling sensation spread like fire… only without the pain or spontaneous combustion. Needless to say, I freaked out. ("What- what?!") I took several seconds for me to realize that she didn't know why I reacted like I did and at least the rest of that very stressful day for me to admit that I _liked_ the feeling. That I _wanted_ it. That maybe I liked her, and in more than an admiring one-crazy-scientist-to-another way. Like a boy to a girl. AND IT DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!!! But I felt it, and I started looking for signs that maybe, just maybe, she felt it too.

So when she needed help, help that _I _could give her, I jumped at the chance. Just to be close to her, and maybe get that feeling again. Freakin' stupid, perverted, idiotic logic on my part. So when she asked, I just shrugged. "You needed my help. I couldn't let you just stumble through this on your own."

"Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering."

"No really, why?"

"I Just… I dunno. It's hard to explain." _And she somehow managed to get away with that answer where I would be pestered for elaboration for days on end._

I look over my shoulder at her. She's looking over the written dance steps right now, even though I have deemed them ultimately useless, and a piece of her hair has fallen out of her headband. She keeps pushing it out of the way but she can't seem to get it to stay out of her eyes. I can see the perfect place to tuck it back in so it ceases to annoy her, but that would mean leaving the Condor on autopilot for two minutes, walking ten feet to where she's sitting, and suddenly I'm here and-- ,y mind goes blank. _How did that even happen? _But she hasn't noticed me yet. _Thank Atmos. I can still walk back to the controls and…_ That thought trails off as she pushes the lock away again, frustration creasing her features.

I reach down and hook the strands with one finger, gently pulling them back from her angelic face and sliding them under the edge of the golden band in her hair, just behind her ear so they won't come loose again. She looks up at me, expressionlessly, as though any emotion might scare me away. Or maybe she's just weirded out by what I just did. A corner of a smile slides onto her mouth and I bolt, scooting back to the Condor's control panel and hoping beyond hope that she doesn't say anything. One of the doors to the bridge slides open and then closes again. I glance over my shoulder at Piper's empty seat and relax. Then cringe, going over the previous scene in my head. _No one's better than me at sending mixed signals, that's for sure._

_

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_

Here's to a purely fluffy chapter, I just haven't had much time to spen on Fandom recently. (been working on "Rise" and "NovaSil" more than usual. plus homework. I've actually been DOING my homework, strange as that sounds if you know me at all.) :P  
I Promise I'll give you more SUBSTANCE in the next addition.

ss  
|__|)


	3. Chapter 3

"Perfect!" Stork exclaims. He's absolutely beaming, and I know at least some of that light must be a reflection of the happiness shining out of my own face. "That was absolutely… perfect! Forget not getting kicked out, you might actually have a shot at winning this thing!"

I shrug, trying not to smile too wide. "Well, five out of six isn't bad." I say with a grin.

His smile fades momentarily. "What do you mean?"

"You still haven't taught me that one move."

"You mean the-"

"Sauté the cat, yes." He squirms uncomfortably and moves away, his hands falling from their positions at my waist and hand where they've become so accustomed to resting. "Oh come on, Stork! It's the first dance in the competition! If I fall flat on my face when it's barely even started there's no way the judges can keep me in without raising suspicion! Besides, it's just one move, how bad can that be?"

"Um, pretty terrible if you ask me. Especially if you don't know your partner that well."

"Show me." I demand, ready to stand my ground or harass him until he does, but the next moment he's back in dance position and we're spinning around and my feet can barely keep up with his and then it's over and my knees give out. I wait for the room to stop spinning with Stork crouched beside me on the floor. "Uh, wow. That was… dizzy."

"See?" He asks, as if he's just proven everything.

I shake my head. "No, not really, no. Can we try that a little bit slower?"

Stork manages to blush and have the blood drain from his face at the same time. "Uh, that's probably not a good idea. No, no, definitely not a good idea."

"Stork…" I push my lower lip out and fake a pout and he quickly glances around the deserted bridge to see if there's anyone who might be watching us from the shadows. There's not of course, and he reluctantly helps me to my feet. "Just break it down for me. You know I'll learn faster if you start out slow."

He hesitates and lets me back into his arms. "Fine. Like this. Step back, bring your other foot around, good, good…" My legs aren't completely under me and Stork has to support me with the arm around my waist. "Now this next part has to go pretty fast, or you'll just fall over."

"Okay."

"Step step turn and spin…" I twirl through the air and Stork catches me effortlessly. My hands land on his shoulders and he leans forward so my back is at a twenty-five degree angle to the floor, my feet resting against the metal. It's almost perfect, but something's not quite the same as what I had gathered from the first round. Stork blushes and clears his throat. He's a little too close to my chest to be comfortable. "Umm, you have to put- uh- like this." He lifts one of my legs so my knee is hooked over his hip. I'm starting to blush now too. "Sorry, but the next part is easier." He then turns around and straightens out quickly, spinning my once under his arm and returning to starting position.

"Uh… thanks. For showing me. I- um, I… That was awkward."

"Yes." I realize that we're still touching, but Stork hasn't. At least, not yet. "But imagine learning it for the first time with someone you barely know."

I laugh. "That must have been terrible."

"It was. Even more so when I found out that one of the older guys from flight school who hated me had a crush on the girl I was learning with."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"Hey Stork-"

At that instant he realizes that his hands have been on me for about three minutes longer then necessary and snatches them away. "Sorry! Sorry. You'd better go to bed if you want to be up in time for the- thing- tomorrow."

I make a face. _Dang, I almost forgot. I have to go try on dancing dresses tomorrow._ I sigh. "Fine. You are coming though, right? I need you there to tell me if something's okay or not. For dancing, I mean."

"Why? You're meeting a consultant there, aren't you? It's why you have to be there at seven instead of whenever you feel like it."

"But I want you there too! Please come!"

"But-"

"Pleeeeeeeeeease?"

"Fine." He turns and heads toward the bridge door that's closest to his room. "See you in the morning."

"Seeya!"

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_I get to go watch Piper try on dresses tomorrow. Wonderful. _I scowl at the bunk above me from my bed. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind, but I'm pretty sure she's catching on to me and I can't have her catch me staring at something I shouldn't, not this close to the Dance On. "Stupid cat." I mutter.

If it weren't for that move I wouldn't have to worry, but we'll have to practice it again and again and again until she can do it flawlessly no matter who her partner is. I wish I knew which lucky guy would get her for the night, but she's not going to find out until the very last minute, and I'll just be sitting on the bridge, waiting at the radio in case they need backup. Which they won't. _Piper won't at least._

I shudder and try to go back to my rant, but thinking about Piper brings back the infernal tingling from her skin on mine. And it's not just from skin-on-skin contact anymore. When I had to dip her and her leg was around my hip and she was so close I could feel her breathe it felt like she had a static electricity generator hidden somewhere in her torso. There was just so much _energy._ I shift and turn over and try to go to sleep, but the sensation won't leave me alone. Finally I pull my pillow over my face and take to staring into the claustrophobic darkness. "Stupid cat."


End file.
